


This One Time

by Rouxcluse



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, M/M, Nick being a bitch, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:21:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25001560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rouxcluse/pseuds/Rouxcluse
Summary: Nick is having trouble adjusting to this new life of being part of a team. Oh, and also, the zombies.
Relationships: Ellis/Nick (Left 4 Dead)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	1. Sleep is for the Weak

** This One Time **

L4D2

[ Nick x Ellis ]

* * *

Nick didn't know why he had offered to take the first shift to watch for zombies as the rest of his team slept.

First off, he had been awake for about two days already, but for some reason instead of feeling his eyes close, he felt disgustingly awake. The con man kept his eyes trained on the zombies meandering aimlessly along the street, nothing but vacant stares and occasional growls of hunger. Nick raised his gun and fired the rifle, taking out one of the undead fuckers that were coming a little too close to the safe house for Nick's liking. He could hear tons of them out there. Sure, there were just six left in sight, but Nick could just _tell_ that there were _more_ out there.

Nick let out an irritated scoff as he realized he was out of bullets. He couldn't help but think, If this sort of thing had happened earlier, if he forgot to reload before a hoarde attacked? He'd be dead. No questions asked.

Nick frowned as he raised the rifle quickly, turning and getting a good shot and firing. The bullet went through one zombie's head and into another, but didn't quite kill the second one. The zombie made a strange confused sound before it turned, blindly reaching for something.

"-Here, Nick."

 **"HOLY SHIT-!"** Nick jumped, letting out a yell as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Nick's yell of surprise turned to anger as rapidly as his face settled back into his usual cynical expression, his eyes settling on Ellis with frustration as he realized who it was.

"Jesus _Fuck,_ Ellis. Can't you let me know next time before you pop up like that? You see this gun in my hand?" Nick complained, gesturing at the rifle before he realized Ellis was offering him a box of bullets.

Nick held back another groan as he took the offered ammunition from the mechanic. He knew he was way too jumpy. He hadn't ecen heard Ellis come down the ladder, let alone walk up behind him. He opened the box and reloaded the rifle, opting to focus on killing off the zombies outside rather than on berating Ellis anymore.

"Shit, Nick. I'm sorry, I kinda thought you saw me, to be honest." Ellis sheepishly apologized, watching as Nick focused his attention outside, unsure before he tried to let him focus. "I couldn't sleep, so i figured I'd come down here." Nick quickly set his sights on the zombie he had yet to finish off, watching as it clawed at the air with gnashing teeth.

Nick frowned as he watched the zombies across the street. They weren't a threat yet, but Nick could picture getting a hoard in the middle of the night. He could picture the way the zombies would attack and eat the team, and Nick found himself shaking the mental thought away physically, before aiming again. Nick stood there silently before he began to shoot at another zombie.

And another.

And another.

Ellis watched silently a few moments when Nick aimed for a zombie along the roof down the street. He casually moved to sit on an old desk, looking at the other man curiously.

"Nick? I don't think it's a good idea to let 'em know we're here, ya know?" Ellis tried to suggest lightly. Nick had a serious expression on his face, yet there was something panicked in his movements, his tense posture and tired eyes continuing to look for any possible danger.

"You think it's better to just let them in?" Nick asked sarcastically. He paused, and after a breif silence added, "I just-... Don't want to risk anything." He stated. It felt honest, something a little different from the usual attitude Nick liked to show people.

"I just mean, you got most of 'em." Ellis shrugged, "I think by this point, any more noise is just gonna draw more to us." 

"You know what? Ellis? _Gosh, You're just such an expert-"_ Nick spoke sarcastically, thrust thee side of the rifle against Ellis' chest, "-You take over. Go on ahead. I bet you anything, if there was someone who would fuck this up and let some kind of monster in here? It'd be you." Nick said scathingly as he walked past a now rather upset Ellis.

The mechanic seemed hurt at first, his eyes searching the absent spot Nick had been as if he could figure out what he could have done to set him off. Then, a look of determination appeared on his face.

 _"What the hell's your problem?"_ Ellis didn't waste any time cutting this bullshit off, and quick.

"You were fine earlier! Hell, you were having a grand ol' time singing with that kids toy."

Nick scowled, turning back to Ellis. "It was a music player _Ellis,_ and Rochelle was showing me it only had this TLC song on it." Nick defended himself quickly, feeling his ego in danger as Ellis began to look more annoyed.

"That's not even the point! I'm talking about you being all pissed off at me for no reason!" Ellis sighed, "I get that you wanna kill all those sons a bitches off out there, but you can't do it if you're half conscious, Nick. You've prolly been awake about two days straight now!"

Nick rolled his eyes, "I'm fine to take watch, Ellis. I could probably outshoot you, even with two days of no sleep."

Ellis looked at Nick and smiled slightly, "Outshoot me?" He repeated quizzically but then seemed interested, "Well, if yer gonna be up all night firing bullets anyway, might as well help your sleepy ass out with actually hitting the zombies." Ellis chuckled. Nick rolled his eyes once again.

"Great, whatever gets you to stop talking so much." He raised the rifle back in sight of across the street, and could hear the sound of Ellis lifting his own gun as well.

Nick looked up from his sigh and Ellis caught the uncertain glance Nick gave Ellis' hands, as if making sure Ellis wasn't pointing the gun at him. Nick's eyes flew from Ellis, and back towards the zombies further down the street. Way, way further. He couldn't get his eyes to focus, and his hands to stop shaking. Suddenly, Nick thought he seen a shadow near the house across the street. Nick turned his rifle towards it quickly.

Ellis' eyebrows drew together in concern, "Nick?..." Nick was already back to looking down the scope, shushing Ellis briskly before he pulled the trigger, a shot blasting through the bars of the door. Nick looked up from the gun, and was genuinely surprised to find nothing there. No zombie in sight.

"What was that?" Ellis asked, genuinely curious.

Nick could barely hear Ellis over the sound of scratching, growling, unconscious shuffling, and teeth, of every type of zombie he could imagine. Any moment, it could be it.

"What?" He asked sharply, turning his head to glare towards Ellis.

Ellis only looked up at Nick, giving a small uneasy shrug, "I just-... Are you okay?" He asked after some hesitation. "Normally, I'd just try n' rib you back when yer bein' an ass, but... You seem like somethin's up. It could just be me, but..." Ellis dragged off once Nick put a hand up.

"Stop." Nick shook his head, a palm between them defensively, "You do realize were on watch for zombies, right? Yeah, something's up! Excuse me for being worried about the goddamn zombie apocalypse!" Nick once again dragged on the sarcasm.

If anything, Ellis' words only made the gambler even more tense, his shoulders tightened as he used the scope of the gun to check. "If you wanna get something up, you could stop psychoanalyzing me and grab a gun. Do something useful." Ellis frowned, "Nick, would you calm down a lil' bit? We survived this far, ain't that count for somethin'?" Ellis asked, stepping next to Nick to also peer out the door.

"Hold off fer a second. I don't want ya firin' and making me deaf or something." He muttered as he peered out into the night, the blue light of the moon letting him spot the zombies. With how far they were, he turned with a quizzical look, "Are you tryna hit those ones way the hell down there?" He asked quizzically. Nick felt like he was going to combust.

"Yeah. Are you going to question every little thing I do some more?"

Ellis paused, "... Dang, I didn't realize how bad of a shot you are, that's all." Ellis spoke, watching as Nick laughed, a dry sarcastic laugh, but it still made Ellis smile a little.

"Yeah, says the guy who took 6 shots to get a jockey off me." Nick shot back.

"Well, I woulda came by sooner, but you had to go and run off way ahead." Ellis countered, "How can ya expect us to have yer back when ya can't even stick around the group?"

"You _can't._ How about _that."_ Nick answered bluntly, but still had a small semblance of something like a smile.

Ellis could tell, though, he was just doing that thing. Ellis noticed that Nick hated when someone showed concern, or any genuine feelings. He could hide behind a offhanded joke or rude comment, and he never had to actually get to know any of them.

Ellis glanced at the zombies who were already plenty away from the safe room. He looked back to Nick, and moved carefully so that his hand was resting on Nick's rifle. The con man looked once again irritated, "What are you doing-"

Ellis moved the rifle so it was right against his chest, looking at Nick's face with a steely determination. He could feel his own heartbeat against his hand as he pulled the barrel to himself.

As Nick's confusion grew, Ellis spoke up, "I trust you, Nick."

Nick furrowed his eyebrows slightly, thrown off by the statement. He glanced from the gun to Ellis once again, and Ellis' eyes noticed the way Nick took in a breath of air, as if searching for words. Then Nick let of the breath out with an eyebrow raised, "Dumb decision, Hayseed."

He pulled the rifle away from Ellis' chest, "You're gonna get yourself killed." Nick spoke in that way that made it hard to tell if he was joking or not.

Ellis didn't have time to think about it as he stepped towards Nick again and reached out, "C'mon. Y'know yer too damn tired to stay awake another night. What if you stay awake so long you just turn right into one of those things?" Ellis asked, gesturing out to a zombie who happened to casually crash into another zombie, causing both to stagger off in random directions.

Nick clearly hesitated. His hand actually tightened slightly around the gun as Ellis reached out a hand.

He paused, looking at Ellis first. Nick looked suspiciously towards Ellis, and then down the street. Nick didn't think he could fall asleep if he tried. There was too much that could happen.

Ellis seen the hesitation, "Look, I think maybe you should get some sleep."

Ellis took that moment to try and pull the gun from Nick's hands, his hand quickly reaching out and grabbing the rifle, but Nick didn't expect the quick pull, and instead of letting go, he ended up holding onto it as he fell forwards, Ellis' hand between the gun and his back against the wall, Nick's hands on the gun above Ellis's head and the wall. Ellis cringed at first after his fingers were squished, but looked up at Nick. This was when the conman realized Ellis' surprised glance from his eyes and to his face that was suddenly way too close, and the way Ellis stopped when he looked up, and- and that they were too close.

Nick pushed himself off the wall, and separating the space between them. "Shit, Ellis-" Nick started, trying to banish the flustered feeling, but then covered up his concern with his casual voice, "When I said you're gonna get yourself killed, I didn't mean to try it right now." Nick joked, but it was then that he finally handed over the gun. "If you're gonna be yanking the goddamn gun out of my hands, why not, huh?" He added on, feeling compelled to cover up the moment with his own voice, turning away once he gave the gun up.

Ellis just nodded, trying to shake off the slight pain in his hand, the other now holding onto the rifle Nick had been using for the past few days. Ellis smiled, regardless, watching as Nick made his way over to a table, which the con man also had to complain about, "Why does everything in these safe houses always have to be so dirty? Actually! This whole apocalypse has been nothing but dirt, blood, and! Even shit." Nick used the health pack to wipe off the table and then used the less dirty side as a pillow.

"You better actually watch for them! If we die, I'm gonna haunt ya! And it's not gonna be fun!" Nick threatened, causing Ellis to let out an exhale, grinning.

"I ever tell you about the time my friend Keith got haunted-"

"YES. No. I don't know, Ellis, you tell so many goddamn stories about Cletus..." Nick argued, even though his voice already sounded as though he were about to pass out.

"His name's Keith!"

"Yeah, and Dave, and some other guy." Nick nodded absently, his eyes drifting closed. It felt great to let his heavy eyes rest. He didn't even mind as Ellis continued to talk.

"I dunno. I sometimes forget when I tell y'all which stories or what. I mean, I've always had kinda bad memory, but not as bad as Keith's. One time, we were out at this hotel that was all abandoned or whatever, and Keith thought it would be funny to go on the roof and make scary noises so that people would think it was haunted too? Man, he ended up falling through like a wet part in the ceiling, I guess the place had bad leaks or somethin', cause he went straight through that roof and down into ANOTHER floor! Oh man, he broke his arm in two places! So we were gonna try and call him an ambulance, but Keith said that he had gotten in a bar fight with his doctor, so he couldn't go back anymore." Ellis turned to look at Nick, expecting to find him asleep, but Nick opened an eye groggily.

"I'm guessing there was only one doctor in that little town of bum fuck nowhere." Nick quipped, his voice completely without any energy to successfully convey any sarcasm. "What is a dumb ass hick to do."

"Hey, don't make me come back there." Ellis joked, "You'd like Keith if you met him. I'm sure of it." Ellis smiled.

It only took five minutes for Nick to fall asleep.

Ellis watched the door vigilantly through the night, letting Coach and Rochelle sleep until morning. The zombies had stayed away for the most part. As the sun began to rise over the horizon, it cast an orange glow into the safe house, and onto the sleeping form of Nick. The con man didn't even stir. As he looked away and back towards the dawn outside, Ellis mentally clicked that Nick had let all three of them sleep through the night before... Ellis had a soft smile as he realized Nick probably cared a lot more than he said he did.


	2. Nightmare

Nick was running for so long his lungs ached. There were thick plumes of smoke pouring through the building he was in, illuminated by the orange roar of the flames that set the entire place ablaze. The con man had two pistols in hand, ready to shoot the undead who had yet to be seen.

Nick watched vigilantly for zombies, hearing the gutteral, feral noises that they made in their mindless shuffling. Nick whirled around, searching desperately for any sign of-

"Ellis!" Nick called out loudly over the crackling, sure that the mechanic had been sitting not even ten feet away from him beforehand.

Nick looked around again, eyes settling on a door above a tall set of stairs. "Rochelle?" Nick called out again, ignoring the ache in his lungs from the smoke as he charged up the stairs. "Coach?" Nick called out again. As he ran, he looked up and seen the door bang violently with an urgent force behind it.

Muffled yells began to call out for help.

Nick's heart thundered in his chest as he stormed up the stairs, somehow not yet to the top. He looked down and found himself angrily kicking his way up the steps, furiously glanced at the door that was banging roughly against the hinges, but not breaking free of the doorway.

It was just out of reach.

Screaming erupted on the other side, the pained sounds scaring Nick more than any witch's scream ever could. It was all three of their voices, yelling out in pain. No matter how fast he ran, Nick couldn't reach the door.

The door slowly stilled...

He couldn't save them.

When the realization hit him, Nick felt himself fall back slowly away from the stairs, fire crawling into his vision just before darkness enveloped him. He was falling, falling...

"Nick?"

Nick heard a southern accent, and the falling abruptly stopped.

Nick was confused when he opened his eyes to see concrete ceiling and blinked, cringing against the sunlight hitting his eyes. He vaguely noted light warmth of a pair of hands beneath his head, and when Nick looked up, he found Ellis, upside down, looking at him concernedly, his brows knit upwards together in confusion. Nick was only then made aware that he was nearly hanging off the edge of the table he had fallen asleep on.

"Nick." Ellis repeated gently, his voice a little less hazy, "You sleepin?"

Ellis' hands were cradling Nick's head, separating the gambler and a swift drop to the concrete floor of the safe house. Ellis leaned down to look Nick over, his eyes glancing to check for anything physically wrong with the conman. "You alright?" Ellis asked, his voice was uneasy with concern.

Nick's mind flashed momentarily to the shaking, burning door as he looked up at Ellis, feeling relief flow through him.

"...Do I even want to know what happened?" Nick asked cynically as he looked up to Ellis, but it was clear that they were both a little more at ease.

Ellis met his gaze with a small smile as Nick spoke, "I'm just glad it wasn't you gettin' attacked or somethin'. I reckon you had some kinda nightmare, 'cause you kept yellin' in your sleep? And then you were kickin' like hell against the wall there and almost knocked yourself right off the table, so I ran over n' just held ya up and tried to get you to wake up." Ellis explained with a shrug, not seeming to realize he was still holding Nick aloft.

"I promise I was keeping watch like I was supposed to before that though!" Ellis added with a reassuring nod. "I only ran over when I heard you start screamin' all loud like that."

"Yeah, yeah, I believe you." Nick began to sit up on the table, waving away Ellis' concern as pushed himself up out of Ellis' grasp. As the gambler sat up once again to the mechanic's eye level, Nick noted that they were way too close. Again.

Ellis didn't move his hands away at first, steadying him with a hand on Nick's arm, but when Nick scooted aside on the table, Ellis backed up a step as well with a sheepish smile.

"You uh- Sure you're okay?" Ellis asked gently.

"Yeah, Ellis. I'm fine." Nick gestured to himself, showing there were no signs of being worse for wear.

"Okay, cool. I was just meanin'- You know- Why you were yellin'." Ellis pointed out, a hand rubbing the back of his own neck a little awkwardly, "Musta been one helluva nightmare, huh?"

Nick's eyes narrowed and his posture stiffened slightly, "Why? What the hell was I yelling?" He asked suspiciously. He didnt want to show all of his cards if he didnt have to.

"I dunno, you were just kinda callin' out for us pretty loud, but then you were just kinda screaming?"

Nick frowned as he listened, not wanting to explain himself. "Forget it. We got bigger shit to worry about." He got down from the table, grabbing his gun and stepping towards the safehouse door to peer outside, "Go get Coach and Rochelle. We have to try and find more food supplies and med kits, not to mention find our way to another hillbilly town in the middle of fuckass nowhere."

"Yeah, if you didn't wake 'em up already." Ellis smiled to show he was just joking, before he paused at the ladder leading up to the other half of the safehouse.

"I know yer not one to talk about shit, but, were a team now n'... You can talk to me if ya ever wanna. Just thought I'd tell ya."

Nick rolled his eyes, his gun still trained pn the street outside, "Yeah, thanks, Dr.Phil. I'll be sure to do that." He spoke sarcastically.

Ellis hesitated, looking over towards Nick, but looked away, knowing it wasn't worth pushing a matter like that with someone like Nick.

As Nick heard Ellis begin to climb the ladder and leave the room, he glanced over his shoulder towards where Ellis had been, an ounce of regret resting in his gut.

He looked back to the safehouse door, resting his gun between the bars. As he aimed his sights down the street, he found every bullet he shot releasing a bit of tension, the uncertain feeling slowly fading.

In a world like this, you can never drop your guard.


End file.
